Proteas Women building towards 2029 World Cup – Enoch Nkwe

He was reflecting on the team’s busy home summer where they faced Ireland and Pakistan across two formats, while also currently touring New Zealand in five T20 Internationals. 

Nkwe says there’s been a deliberate effort to blood in youngsters into the team post last year’s World Cup where they got to the final.

"Looking back, there's been some good stuff this summer. It's been good to see the nice blend of youth and experience especially post the World Cup. That has been very intentional from coach Mandla to introduce some of the younger players we identified in the u/19 emerging space.

"We're trying to broaden the base because parallel to the short term objective of trying to win the T20 World Cup, we also have to start rebuilding for the 2029 World Cup."

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While he is excited with the new talent that has come through the ranks, he believes the core consisting of their more experienced players are still in the running for that tournament bar a few who are already well into their 30’s. 

The likes of captain Laura Wolvaardt, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Suné Luus, Nadine de Klerk, and Annerie Dercksen will still be young enough to participate, and Nkwe believes there’s no better time to blend that experience with youth.

Nkwe says the current tour of New Zealand serves as the perfect preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup in England in June, and they’ll be finalising those against India at home next month. 

He believes the Proteas Women are edging closer to their first world title following a few heartbreaks in recent times.

"There's an opportunity now that coach Mandla and the selectors are using in New Zealand to continue to fine tune the combinations, and its been quite exciting to see the mix in the squad.

"We still have India to finalise our prep for the T20 World Cup, and in general, the team is in a good space and they are determined to do more. They've built that experience and confidence of getting to finals, so it's just a matter of time."